New airline competes for direct flights between Honduras and Spain

Competition among Spanish airlines for the Latin American and Caribbean market continues to grow, and in that struggle to add connections at affordable prices, Honduras is also on the map.

By 2021, some 130,119 Hondurans were living in Spain, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), making it the third largest community of Latin American emigrants in that country, after 315,000 Colombians and some 220,400 Venezuelans.

According to Aviacionline data, through Aena Estadísticas, from January to September 2022 between Honduras and Spain, 42,914 passengers and 1,306.5 tons of cargo were mobilized, which meant an increase of almost 40% in the market compared to the levels before the covid-19 pandemic.

In addition, after the United States, where more than one million Hondurans are estimated, according to the U.S. Migration Policy Institute (MPI), Spain is the second destination for Honduran migrants.

AIR CONNECTIVITY FROM HONDURAS TO SPAIN

Currently, the only long-haul air service directly connecting Honduras to Spain is operated by Air Europa, with twice-weekly flights between Madrid and San Pedro Sula on Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.

Since its arrival in April 2017, the Spanish low-cost airline has mobilized more than 50,000 passengers from one country to another, according to company figures.

This week, Spanish airline Iberojet president Paul Verhagen announced they would open direct flights from December 13 between Madrid and Palmerola, in central Honduras.

The charter airline, based in Palma de Mallorca and owned by the Barceló group, plans to cover two flights per week, Wednesday and Saturday, with an A350 900 aircraft with a capacity for 432 passengers in a single configuration and promotional fares are available from US$850, some 21,000 lempiras (HNL), round trip.

With this, Iberojet will offer 1,728 weekly seats between Madrid and Palmerola, the main international airport in the country’s central, southern, and eastern parts.

PALMEROLA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The airline, along with Spirit and Aeromexico (AEROMEX), is one of three new companies to announce operations from Palmerola International Airport, inaugurated in 2021 in Comayagua, about 75 kilometers from Tegucigalpa.

The new airport was designed to replace Toncontín, in Tegucigalpa, due to the latter’s limitations to growth and the pressure of being considered one of the most dangerous in the world due to the ten accidents that caused the death of more than 170 people in 50 years.

With this, the international airlines United (UAL), American Airlines (AAL), Avianca, and Copa, which had been operating in the capital for several years, also moved to the new terminal.

“Palmerola always defined objectives in its strategic structure: operational safety, better fares, and connectivity.

“These three elements combine to generate development for the country,” said Peter Fleming, connectivity development advisor to Palmerola International Airport’s board of directors.

With information from Bloomberg